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Directors Guild of America Names Negotiations Committee Co-Chairs

Bond director Michael Apted and "West Wing" director Thomas Schlamme were appointed Sunday to the next DGA Feature Film and Television Negotiations Committee.

Michael Apted and Thomas Schlamme have been appointed co-chairs of the next DGA Feature Film and Television Negotiations Committee, Directors Guild of America president Taylor Hackford announced Sunday.

Apted served as DGA president for three terms from 2003-09 and now serves as DGA secretary-treasurer. Schlamme has served as DGA's fifth vp since 2009; he served on the Negotiations Committee in 2008 and again in 2011, when he led the television subcommittee. The DGA National Board approved the appointments at its board meeting Sunday.

“As we look ahead to the next round of negotiations, we are carefully examining the creative and economic issues faced by our members working in film and television,” Hackford told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. “As part of that process, we have asked Michael Apted and Thomas Schlamme, two of our most prominent and experienced feature and television leaders and working members, to serve as the co-chairs and lead our negotiations, and they have graciously agreed. We are extremely fortunate to have the benefit of their wisdom, negotiating prowess and many years of professional and guild experience to spearhead our negotiations.”

“While we don’t know yet when negotiations will begin, we are preparing well in advance, as we always do, with extensive up-to-the-minute research and a robust and thorough staff and member process to determine our key priorities, so that we will be ready when the time is right,” Apted said in a statement.

The DGA’s contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expires June 30, 2014.

“The guild’s core mission is to protect and extend the creative and economic rights of our members – directors and members of the directorial teams – no matter what challenges we face,” Schlamme said. “Michael and I will work closely with the Negotiations Committee members and the guild’s professional staff to ensure the best and strongest possible outcome for our members. We will be working closely with Creative Rights Committee co-chairs Steven Soderbergh and Jonathan Mostow, who have already begun work with their committees.”

Apted and Schlamme joined the DGA in 1978. Apted's credits include the 1999 Pierce Brosnan Bond flick The World Is Not Enough and 2010's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Schlamme is best known for his television directing, including the pilot episode of Spin City and episodes of The West Wing, Mad About You, Ally McBeal, ER, Friends, Boston Public and Pan Am.

The DGA expects to appoint the full Negotiations Committee, made up of directors, assistant directors, unit production managers, associate directors and stage managers working in all genres, this year.